Monday, April 1, 2013

The second Caravan of Comics embarks from Australia this year taking Melbourne cartoonists over to America for various comic events. This caravan features an almost entirely different line-up than the 2012 excursion and includes: Scarlette Baccini, Mirranda Burton, Marijka Gooding, Patrick Alexander, Gregory Mackay, Dan Hayward and Bruce Mutard.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Crikey,
I've been away so much that I've seen hardly any movies on the big
screen and not a huge amount on the box, either. Anyone who's seen my
DVD collection knows I'm a huge movie fan. OKay, like so many others, I
got tuned into the Game of Thrones show and it is fabulous, though I
have reservations about all the women being either vixens or whores. The
books are great, too. I also decided to follow up on the fuss over the
Hunger Games and it was a cracking read - great positive female
protagonist who has the awkwardness of a teenager still within her. The
film version was quite good, but I can understand why it couldn't be so
brutal as the book.

2012 was the year of the popular series, so I've
also taken to Stieg Larsson. The books are great reads, though again,
for someone who professes to be so caring about women's rights and anti
sex-trafficking, Larsson does give undue detail about his female
characters sex lives and his male protagonist is a middle-aged
unremarkable bloke who seems to have a lot of women hot for him. If
you're going to watch it on film, watch the Swedish original TV series
version with Noomi Rapace - the cinema forms were cut down from these.
Blindingly good thrillers. The big Hollywood version was alright, but
sort of unnecessary. Sticking with Sweden - one of the best vampire
films I've seen is 'Let The Right One In'. So… Swedish, but so in tune
with alienated kids. Powerful.

I also have
become a fan of Once Upon A Time series. Very good mash of all the old
fairy tales with twin storylines weaving in and out of storybook and storybook. It's never twee, quite intelligent and the original back-stories to some of the Grimm characters is often pretty insightful.

Of
course, Homeland was a ball-tearer. As was Boardwalk Empire (which I
still haven't finished). Australian shows worth a look were things like
Rake, Redfern Now (though at times self conscious), Howzat! We have a
ton of cinematic talent in this country and too few opportunities to make
good use fo them.

Okay - a big plug for Dan
Hayward's This is Roller Derby as well. Really caught the essential spirit of
this girls only grass roots sport. I love their 'fuck you' attitude. Get
the DVD.

And another for my dear friend Mira Bartok's 'The
Memory Palace' book - how such an upbringing could produce such a lovely
person as her and her sister, proves there is far more to nature than
nurture. Their mother was clearly a brilliant mind hijacked by
schizophrenia. Turns out their mother was a huge fan of comics too, only
she never let on.

Of course, travelling a lot
allowed me to see a huge amount of art and architecture that I've only
ever seen in books. By far and away the best major art museum that I've
seen so far is the Prado in Madrid - gosh, you only have to walk into
the room with Goya' Night Pictures to realise what heights art can
attain. The Prado is blessed with huge collections of two of the best
painters who ever lived in Goya and Velaquez, who were both Spaniard and
court painters, so I guess the Prado being made of the royal
collection, they had an advantage. But it also has Bosch' 'Garden Of
Earthly Delights' which is something any art lover has to see in the
original.

Whilst in town, see the Thyssen-Borezma collection of modern
art which is one of the very best I've seen. Also saw a lovely
retrospective of Odilon Redon whilst in town. Picasso' Guernica is also
worth the pilgrimage. Seeing Duchamp' collection at the Philadephia
Museum of Fine Art was amazing. I paid my repsects to 'The Large Glass'
at last. The Barnes collection in the same city is amazing though way
too much of Renoir, whom I have no time for his endless soft porn pics
of pudgy women and twee kids.

Barcelona - the famous uncompleted Gaudi
cathedral - it is truly, truly breathtaking - a work of astonishing
beauty. But the 12th C El Sur cathedral is also gob-smacking beautiful -
I'm never short of being astonished at what medieval craftsmen could
achieve. And the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao lives up to and exceeds all
expectations. But Bilbao itself is more than this museum too. I did see
Leonardo' 'Last Supper' in Milan, too; yes, it is quite remarkable and
more so how it survived the rest of the building being leveled in WW2.
I could go on and on. Shows - saw a a few of them, too. 'A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum" with Geoffrey Rush was fabulous. I'll
stop now.

Have you implemented any significant changes to
your working methods this year?

Well, if by that you mean I have spent
waayyy too much time traveling, doing shows, conferences, organising
events and not enough at the drawing board, then you'd count that as a
change. It's one I welcome, but I have to scale back. I have a book to
do and in answer to my most FAQ: yes, the Fight is on the way but not
due out until April 2015. In terms of working methodology, yes things
are changing all the time. I write more with pictures these days than
with words - akin to my core thesis of what comics are.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Gosh where to start again?

Um…
well, clearly the Caravan part 2 heading to TCAF in May. I wil also be
presenting at the International Comic Arts Forum in POrtland,OR, that
same month. I will be hanging around stateside for a while and then
heading to Italy to break the back of my Masters thesis project - a
comic installation for a gallery exhibition.

Then the SPXO
show in September - another Caravan style trip to showcase Australian
and NZ art to the Yanks. It'll be something special and anyone who wants
in, can come. Some funding will be available.

The Canberra residency.

Assuming
and making use of my appointment as the holder of the Australian
Society of Authors Comics and Graphic Novels portfolio. I have plans
for this to take representation and the Australian industry to a new
level.

Bologna
Childrens Book Fair - 15 times the size of Supageddacon and vastly more
interesting. You'll never see such a concentration of illustration
talent from all over the world. Amazing. I plan to create an Australian
comics showcase to go there in 2014.

Meeting Robert and Aline Crumb at the opening of his retrospective in Paris.

The
Graphic Novels Melbourne Filming process and premiere - even if I did
look like a sad sack at the end. Adam Sandler will have to play me in
the fictional version of my life.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Mirranda Burton - her book 'Hidden' is brilliant and she has some exciting projects up her sleeve. Jesca Marisa is a Sth African expat who now lives in NZ. I met her at Sydney Supanova. She has a book called Awakenings
that is ravishingly beautiful to look at. She is also an animator whose
films are equally good. I am reminded of Miyazaki. She has work to do
on her storytelling, but she'll go far I'm sure. She'll be at Big Arse 3
to launch her book in Melbourne.

Lisbeth Russell, known by her stage name Black Betty, I met at Perth Supanova,
is an ex-pat Dane who is a cartoonist, designer, burlesque artist and
model for off-mainstream fashion and photographers. She's in Perth and
has become a really good friend of mine. Talent to burn.

Marijka Gooding is a recent graduate graphic designer I met at a talk I gave at
Monash Uni, whereupon it seemed clear she had a very strong interest in
comix. I caught up with her later in the year when I recommended her as
a designer to Milk Shadow Books and 12 Panels Press. She will also do
the design work on books I am publishing - under Fabliaux imprint. She
wrote and drew a comic, Strange Behaviour for her Honours thesis and it
is an amazingly accomplished book notwithstanding the fact it's her
first.The book's not up on her site unfortunately.

Badaude
(real name Joanna Walsh), whom I met as a consequence of sharing a
panel at the Melbourne Writers Festival. A writer/illustrator of
observation and life. I still haven't seen her book though one was meant
to be sent to me. Interesting woman though I wouldn't say we hit it off
in any brilliant way. Worth a look though.

Caitlin Pesky of Pesky Studios. Met her as a consequence of being invited to
participate in an exhibition she organised for the Fringe Festival
called This Is Melbourne. She worked in the rag trade (desiging the
anonymous images that go on all the clothes for chain stores like Target
and Kmart). She has moved out of it to become an illustrator and artist
who can at last sign her name to her work.

Serena Geddes - whom I met in Bologna, is a very talented and lovely woman who is primarily a picture book illustrator.

Lesley Vamos - another I met in Bologna, coming from an animation background
and now does primarily picture books and some comics. Incredibly fast
and reminds me a lot of Doug Holgate in style. You should see her go
when she is sketching for food… whooboy.

And
check out Dan Drobik who just emailed me for advice. Just graduated
from Monash fine art, too. Referred to by a good friend of mine who was a
fellow student and orthodox Jewish grandmother (not kidding). She wants
Dan to go on the straight and narrow. What, and waste a good filthy
mind like this? http://creativelydisappointing.tumblr.com/

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?Being
introduced to the Melbourne comic book scene and all its lovely people.
I think because the Melbourne scene is still quite young there is this
stronger feeling of camaraderie and support amongst its members.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the
first time in 2012?

Early this year I discovered the Nobrow
books. Nobrow are a small, independant publishing group from the UK,
started in 2008, who specialize in beautifully crafted, one off comics
and publications. Their work hit home for me the importance of looking
at books as physical objects and as commodities to be kept and admired. This pushed me to see my own work as a final, packaged product and take
into consideration basic aesthetics like the weight and feel of a book.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Mostly
due to the comic book (Gooding's debut graphic novel, Strange Behavior.), I've been a bit of a shut in this year so my most
enjoyable moments have been mostly small wins, like the day I found a
slightly squished Caramello Koala wedged in between the couch cushions.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

I am happy to say that this year I finally become friends with typography. After
undergoing, and almost failing, first year typography classes at Uni, I
had written myself off as never being any good at it. I found the whole
thing so intimidating with its strict conventions and anal retentive
specifications that I completely avoided using type in any of my work.
It wasn't until I started to collecting examples of type myself (old
tins, on the side of old trucks, wrappers, vintage signage, comics) that
I started to really love it.

I noticed that the work of the comic artists I admired (particularly
Dan Clowes, Chris Ware and Charles Burns) all had this strong, graphical
consideration of type and I think that all stems from their mutual
respect for both the written word and image. I wish someone had shown me sooner how exciting and varied type could be.